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Show • 'Ibe Hi.flory of P L A N T S. crs fiand at the tops of the fialk in clufiers, and are long, narrow, and of a pale red. The whole plant is very bitter to the t~fl:e. . . . It is common in dry pailures. C. Bauhm~ and others c~lls It,. Ce~tau~mm mmus. It is an excellent fiomachic in infufion, and IS a common mgredient m bi~ters. . The other principal fpecies of Gentian are, I. The narrow-leaved Gentian, With a blue and yellow flower. 2. The great, p~rple Ge?tian. 3· Th~ fwall~w-wortleaved Gentian. 4. The great-flowered, Alp.me Gentian. 5· ~he ltttle fpnng G.entian. 6. The narrow-leaved, fpring Gent1an. 7· The crucJate-leaved Gentian. 8. The broad, fhort-flowered Gentian. 9· The Gentian calle~ fmall Centaury, with very narrow, linear leaves. I o. The fhort, acute-le~ved Gentian. I I.. The clufl:erflowered toad-flax-leaved Gentian. I 2. The red> fpiked-flowered Gentian. I 3· The great, red-flowered, fweet Gentian, o~ the C~pe _of Good Hope. . 14. The perfoliate, yellow-flowered Gentian. I 5. The httl.e, tnfohate, yellow Gent1an. I 6. The narrow and rigid-leaved, little, yellow Gentian. S WERT I A. T HE calyx is a plane, permanent perianthium, formed of one leaf, divided into five lanceolated fegments. The corolla con fills of a fingle petal: there is no tube; the limb is plane~ and divided into five lanceolated fegmehts, larger than the cup, and cohering only at their ungues. T~~ neCtari.a are ten; .they are two points at.the bottom of every fegment, depreffed, and ciliated with fine ha1rs : the fiamma are five, ereCto-patent, fubulated filaments, {horter •han the coroll.a; the . antherre are ~ncu~bent: the germen is of an ovato-oblong figure; the fiyle IS not vifible : the fi1gma IS fimple : the fruit is a cylindric capfule, pointed at each end, formed of two valves, and containing only one cell : the feeds are numerous and fmalJ. Thefe characters filfficiently diftinguilh it, without a farther defcription. Clqfs the Fifth. Order the Second. Divijion the Fourth. Penta11dria Digynia, with two naked fleds after every flower, and with jimple umbels. P H Y L L 'I S. T HE calyx is an extreamly minute perianthinm, c'ompofed of two leaves, and fixed on the germen : the coroll~ confifis of five lanceolate, obtufe petals, turned backwards, and jufi joining at their bafes: the fiamina are five capillary, flaccid fil;aments, ihorter than the .corolla: the anther::e are fimple and oblong : the germen is placed under the receptacle ·; there is no fiyle : the fiigmata are two, pubefcent, reflex, and fubulated : the fruit is of a turbinate-oblong, obtufe, angular figure, compofed of two parallel feeds, broadefi at top, convex and angular on one fide, and plain on the other. This genus comprehends the Beupleuroides of Boerhaave; the Simpla Nobla of Plukenet. The charaCters are fuffident, without a farther defcription. P A N A X. T HE umbel of the Panax is fimple, equal, and thick; the involucrum is very . fmall, formed of a number of leaves, fubulated and permanent. The perianthmm of each flower is very fmall, divided into five fegments, and permanent : the general corolla i~ uniform; the peculiar corolla confifts of five oblong, crooked, equal petals.: the fiamma are five very fhort filaments; the anthera! are fimple; t e germen is r~undtlh, and placed below the perianthium : the ftyles are two, and fmall ; the fhgmata are fimple: the fruit is a roundilh berry, having one cell, and is coronated with the cup: the feeds are two, and of a kidney-like fhape. Thts genus comprehends the famous Ginfeng, the Araliaftrum and Aureliana of authors. ' Tht The Hiflory of P L A N T s, The fimilarHy of the names Ginfeng and Nintin, or Ninfi, and the 1imilar virtues of the two roots, have led people to imagine they were the fame, but that very erroneoufiy. they are not even of the fame genus. The Ginfeng is a Panax ; the Ninzin a Suim: hereafter to be defcribed in it's place. Pan ax foliis quinis. The five-leaved Pan ax. Qf5tnftng. The root is two or three inches long, and of the thicknefs of a man's little linger; fomewhat rugofe on the furface, and ufually divided into two, fornetimes into more, parts at the bafe. It is of a browniih colour on the furface, and yellowHh within ; tt's fmell is aromatic and agreeable ; it's tafie acrid, aromatic, and bitterifh : at the head of the root fiand a feries of nodules, formed by the remains of the fialks of the years before, and by thefe the age bf the root is difcovered. The fialk is fingle, fmooth, of a reddi(h colour, and a foot high. From the top of this there grow three or four oblong pedicles, furrowed longitudinally, half way of their length, and fianding horizontally, fo as to form a kind of umbel. At the extremity of each of thefe fiand five leaves, uriequal in fize, and growing together, with petioles of ah unequal length; they are thin, oblong, of an ovate-acuminated figure, and deeply ferrated round the edges; they are of a pale yellowiih.-green colour, and full of fine veins: from the top of the main fialk, and in the center of the pedicles fupporting the leaves, there rifes a peduncle naked, flender, and five or fix inches 16ng; at the top of this fiands a corymbofe umbel, formed of flowers fianding on peduncles, very flentler, and an inch in length; every flower has it's feparate peduncle, and they are fmall, and their petals oblong. The berry, which fucceeds each of thefe flowers, is firiated on the furface. It is a native of China and Tartary ; it grows in ihady places, in forefis, &c. between thirty-nine and forty-feven degrees North ; it has lately been difcovered alfo about the forty-feventh degree in North America. Sarrafin calls it, Araliafl:rum quinquefolii folio. The Tartars and Chinefe gather the roots in fpring and autumn, with great care, and dry them in a particular manner with a great many cautions; when dried, it fells with them for three times it's weight in filver, and is ell:eemed an univerfal medicine, a remedy for all difeafes; it's moft favourite quality, however, is that of a provocative to. venery, which they imagine it poffeffes in an amazing degree. With us it has been fold at a much greater price than there; and fuch cheats have been the Chinefe, who fold it, that, when cut, every root of it has often been found loaded with a long piece of lead, carefully let into it, which has given it· three times it's real weight. ERYNGIUM. T HE common receptacle is conic, and there are palere which feparate the feffile flofcules. The involucrum of the receptacle is formed of feveral leaves, plane, and exceeding the flofcules in height : the proper periantbium is formed of five leaves, ereCt, acute, placed upon the germen, and exceeding the corolla in length: the corolla is, in the whole, roundilh and unif6rfn; the fingle flower is formed of five oblong pe.t~ ls, with their extremities turned back to tlleir bafe.' The fiamina are five ftrait, capillary filaments, taller than the corolla: the antherre are oblong; the germen is hairy, and fiands under the proper perianthium : the fiyles are two, filiform, :ffrait, and of the length of the fiamina; the fi'igma'ta are fimple : the pericarpium is an oval fruit, divifible into two parts; and the feeds oblong and cylindric : in fome the' feeds are in time freed from the crufi of the pericarpium, in others not. . I. Eryngium foliis radicalibus fo6rotundis plicati~Jplnojis, Jloribus pedunculatis. The Eryngium, with the radicall~aves, roundijh, plicated, and prickly, and the flowers on peduncles. The root is very long, of the thickrrefs of a fmaU: quill, and difperfed every way in the earth: the radical leaves ftand on long pedicle's; they are fix or eight inches long, and |
